1. Characters:
1.1. Protagonist
1.1.1. Name: Ling Xiang
1.1.2. Age: 20 years old
1.1.3. Class: Bystander and eventually, a Fortunate
1.1.4. gets hand-picked to go one of the most prestigious "universities," decides to go to make a better living, despite being distrustful of authorities of the school and the current government
1.1.5. Blunt, straight-forward, observant, introverted, more of a thinker than a speaker (in the end, she develops to be much more outspoken and confrontational)
1.1.6. regularly writes in her journal to sort out her thoughts and as a way to entertain herself, sort of therapeutic
1.1.7. She is placed into the Detective department due to her skills as a writer and observant skills, as well as her sharp mind
1.2. Main Character #1:
1.2.1. Name: Leo Bastian
1.2.2. Age: 22
1.2.3. Class: a Fortunate, he was lucky enough to be born into a wealthy class
1.2.4. He's a genius innovator and technological inventor who makes quirky gadgets in all of his free time, values his stuff more than anything else (they're like his "babies")
1.2.4.1. Belongs to the engineering department
1.2.5. Swears and cusses if he is beyond angry
1.2.6. More of a speaker than a thinker, the opposite of the protagonist
1.3. He might be a genius in inventing, but he's generally a complete klutz and has a dead rock for a brain, no common sense
1.4. Main Character #2
1.4.1. Name: Eden Maxwell
1.4.2. Age: 22
1.4.3. Class: like the protagonist, a Bystander and eventually a Fortunate
1.4.4. IQ: 149, the reason why she was chosen into the university is mainly because she's like an Einstein
1.4.4.1. Belongs to the Detective Department like the protagonist
1.4.5. She does a a lot of hypothetical thinking, and mutters to herself a little too much
1.4.6. Has a habit of unnecessarily using high vocabulary daily, then after being giving weird looks by everyone, translates it to "simple" english
1.5. Main Character #3
1.5.1. Name: Milo
1.5.2. Age: 25
1.5.3. Class: used to be a Criminal, but is now a Fortunate and working for the university for several years
1.5.4. An information dealer and broker
1.5.5. Has ties to the underground and mafias
1.5.6. The shadiest person with a tongue of silver
1.5.7. When the protagonist first joins the group, he is nowhere to be seen due to working as a government spy at the moment
1.6. Does not belong to a department; he is not a student nor faculty member; he is grouped up despite not being a student due to making his cover-up stories and disguises much more believable, in case anyone is trying to search up his background
1.7. Supporting Character
1.7.1. Name: Miyu Hara
1.7.2. Age: 20, like Ling
1.7.3. Class: a Bystander and eventually a Fortunate
1.7.4. Came from the Nuevo Angeles ghetto like Ling
1.7.5. Ling's first friend at the university due to having a similar personalities and backgrounds
1.7.6. helps Ling get settled in and helps her around campus
1.7.7. somehow knows information that not even Eden knows
1.7.8. explains to her the current situations and what not
1.7.9. Belongs to the Public Relation Department; she was a charimatic spokesperson
1.7.10. extremely, almost overbearingly, kind, caring, and cheery but occasionally while no one is looking (except Ling), her face dims and turn shady looking, and becomes dazed and pensive (her eyes are slightly twitching, hands restless, rubbing her arms constantly like she was freezing, when on the contrary, the room heater is currently on full blast.
1.7.11. dies by overdose of poppy extract, but no one can find out the reason at first when going through autopsy, because of new technology the mafia created to eradicate incriminating evidence on victims or surroundings, etc.
1.7.12. Boras Park
1.7.13. Age: 21
1.7.14. Dorm room monitor but seems to also have a much more influential position in the Elysia University
1.7.15. unknowingly gets used by the Headmaster in helping him aid an attempted genocide by using poppies and ultimately gets backstabbed and falls victim to antifreeze poisoning
2. Settings/Time:
2.1. 2050s, set in the future
2.2. WWIII had occurred in 2030s, every country was completely devastated, and even 2 decades later, is still recovering from radiation fallout and destruction aftermaths in most areas
2.2.1. democratic and republican parties have lost general public support and are now diminishing, new party seizes power: the Yorkan party
2.2.1.1. Yorkan party still leads a democracy, however, their intentions and priorities for America are unclear, but whatever their motives are, they are alleviating human suffering and burdens and helping the country recover, so no one complains but are still wary
2.2.2. technological development accelerates dramatically, and one of the most innovative technology created is a vacuum-like machine that sucks in radiation particles and decomposes it in one of its compartments, HOWEVER super expensive and only certain areas in certain countries have these machines, very limited, could only vacuum a limited amount of radiation before rendered useless
2.2.2.1. in the meantime, while people wait for more of radiation vacuums to be created and for their home cities to be cleaned, they live in modern "ghettos," overcrowded, however, have decent living conditions unlike the ghettos in 1930s
2.2.3. Crime rates are at their peak due to failed economy, country bankruptcy, and scarce necessities; there are not enough people to put society in order because they're all dead
2.2.3.1. because of this, remaining political figures tried opening "prestigious" secluded university-like campuses to coax young adults and adolescents to move from their war-destroyed homes into a "luxurious" area, main purposes of why they would do this: 1). to try to train them and replace all the dead physicists, scientists, leaders, other occupations in the near future 2). to try to salvage and improve their reputations as a political figure and gain power again 3). possibly indoctrination
2.2.3.1.1. Students are put into different departments based on databases showing their personalities and skills and how compatible they are to it (f.e. a patient person who is good at logistics and biology would be placed into one of the departments in science)
2.3. Main social classes: 1). Wealthy/Prominent/Fortunate 2). the "Lost," people who just endlessly party, drink, flirt, and do drugs for several reasons: war trauma, hopelessness, lost in life 3). the Bystanders, people who try to live like normal citizens before the war, and keep to themselves and do not help anyone due to distrust and tensions (most people belong here) 4). Criminals/Mafia
3. Plot Outlines:
3.1. 1. Story opens up with italicized writing, which indicates that Protagonist is writing in her journal at the moment; she is describing her surroundings... "i would open this entry the cliche i often read in books: 'the setting sun was gorgeous, its rays burning and illuminating everything in the cloud-filled skies,' or something along those lines, but when i look up, it's quite the opposite. The skies i usually nowadays see are dreary blank canvases, with the exception of a scattered smog and smoke as clouds, mimicking splattered black paint...." ("Okay yeah, i really need to stop being poetic, but I can't help it, being bored all the time...")
3.2. 2. As she trudges along through the "ghettos", her mind wanders to when and how the country became dystopiac
3.2.1. WWII: the US president at the time had continuously aggravated the North Korean regime for years, causing tensions to increase; and one day, the North Koreans "accidentally" (as they claimed) blasted Alaska with one of their nuclear weapons during a test, causing the US to declare war. With countless of military alliances, a small conflict with the US and North Korea turned into a world war. Main Alliances: Great Britain, US, Japan, South Korea, Germany (VS) Russia, China, North Korea, other Middle Eastern countries
3.2.1.1. Ended in with the US winning but every place on earth was devastated with nuclear fallout and post-war destruction
3.3. 4. She starts thinking about this university and how it all started (refer to settings/time) and that she's getting out of the ghettos to the secluded university area
3.4. 5. On the outskirts of the ghetto, she noticed in the corner of her peripheral vision, a cafe/bakery, her stomach growls, observes the activity in and around the cafe, and thinks "maybe that's why i was comparing underwear to pizza toppings..." and makes a mental note to herself and a note in her journal to visit there in her free time
3.5. NEW CHAPTER: 6. she walks through the gates and notes how flamboyant and luxurious everything was: to buildings, to gardens, and even the sidewalks, she encounters 2 burly guards and a machine next to them; the machine scans a light up and down her body and displays her information: Name: ?? Age: 20 Sex: Female Department: PREDETERMINED Access: Accepted, and she was let through
3.6. After going through registration and being placed in the Detective Department, she is led on a tour by a dorm room monitor, and is then led to a floor and then a room, where her "group" she was assigned to was supposed to live with her
3.7. they all introduce themselves to each other, however Ling notices that a person is missing from the group, Eden seems to notice that Ling caught on, and reassured her that they are going to discuss more about Milo in the near future
3.7.1. 3. She notes to herself that there are lingerie around some buildings ("I turned to see various lingerie scattered like toppings on a pizza.." and also noted the stench of Marijuana (a god-awful stench), and thinks about how "the Lost are at it again" and then sees a corpse, grimaces, and then thinks "and it looks like the Criminals are at it again"